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CHICAGO AREA TIMEX USERS GROUP

Chicago Area Timex Users Group Bonners Grobe, Minois

Volume 6, Number 2 March/April 1992
MEMORY MAP

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Items for SALE through the Club ...............00000. 7
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Articles:

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POS: aans eben Sadia de es wos sacl aac daton earn ahals 9 token Roose! 10

C.A.T.U.G. CLUB OFFICERS

Here is the list of 1991 club officers and how to contact them.
The club has two strong SIGS, SPECTRUM/TS2068 and QL. If you
have questions about either of these fine machines or even the

ZX81/TS1000/TS1500 call one of the officers. C=312, S=708.
POSITION NAME PHONE PRIMARY FUNCTION

President Nazir Pashtoon S439-1679 The buck stops here...
Vice-President Steve Cooper S968-3553 Meeting Planning, etc.
Secretary Al Feng S971-0495 Records and Reporting
Treasurer Frank Mills S544-1918 Dues and Purchasing
Editor Bob Swoger S576-8068 Newsletter, BBS, etc.

Copyright (C)1992 Chicago Area Timex Users Group, Streamwood, IL

NITE-TIMES NEWS
Volume VI, Number 2 1 March/April 1992

Rite-Times Information

The Nite-Times Mews is the

newsletter of the Chicago Area
Timex Users Group. For an
annual fee of $12.00 you can
become a CATUG member with full
membership privileges. Send
your dues to:

CATUG TREASURER FRANK MILLS

417 S 47th AVE
BELLWOOD IL 60104

The Chicago Area Timex Users
Group is pleased to exchange
newsletters with other Timex
and Sinclair supporting users
groups at no charge. Send all
newsletter requests to:

CATUG EDITOR BOB SWOGER
613 PARKSIDE CIRCLE
STREAMWOOD IL 60107-1647

If you desire to reprint any
articles that appear here,
please provide credit to the
author and this newsletter.

We encourage your user group to
copy this newsletter and
distribute it at your regular
meetings to your members free
of any charge as we believe
that this will encourage better
meeting attendance. If you are
a user group that feels as we
do, please let us know in your
newsletter so that we might do
this for our members and keep
our attendance up.

Articles originating from our
group may be downloaded from
our BBS and reprinted.

CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE

Al Feng

John Shepard
Frank Mills

Bob Swoger, K9WVY

CLUB MEETINGS

The Chicago Area Timex Users
Group meets on the THIRD
Saturday of each month at the
home of our meeting coordinator
Steve Cooper in Downers Grove,
Illinois from 1:00 to 5:00 PM.
Steve's home is lovingly called

2

the CLUB HOUSE and is located
at 1300 Maple Street in Downers
Grove just 2 blocks southwest
of the Downers Grove Public
Library. Steve should be
contacted evenings at
708/968-3553. to confirm the
meeting schedule.

When visiting be careful of the
Dutch Dooooooooorrrrrrrr.......

TREASURY NOTES

The balance as of May 1 1992 is
$296.55. Our current paid
Membership stands at 15.

Frank Mills, Treasurer
Chicago Area Timex Users Group

SECRETARY'S NOTEPAD

MORE CAT MINTS

Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo
Streamwood, March 21, 1992 --
The Ides of March found Steve
having a mishap on the "club
house" driveway. Consequently,
CATUG's March meeting was held
at the temporary venue which is
also the official postal drop
for CATUG.

All CATUG members would like to
thank Annette & Bob Swoger for
their hospitality.

As a result of the surprisingly
inclement weather, some regular
attendees failed to arrive at
the meeting despite intentions
otherwise.

After some spirited debate, all
the CATUG members in attendance
(Nazir, Jim, John and son Jeff,
Abed, Al, Larry, and Bob) voted
to conditionally support T/SNUG
for another year. The related
funds will be transferred from
Frank (CATUG Treasurer) to Abed
(T/SNUG Treasurer) at the
appropriate time.

The feature demo which Bob had
an opportunity to demonstrate
was Larry Kenny's LKDOS MAXCOM
telecommunications program.

Of course, for those who know,
I do not do MAXCOM justice when

I refer to it as simply a tele-
communications program because
it is much more than that.

For all of you 2068 users, if
the LKDOS RAM disk isn't enough
reason to acquire LKDOS, then
MAXCOM (as apparently amended
by Bob Swoger) should be the
deciding factor.

Essentially, multiple MAXCOMed
2068s can communicate as either
nodes ina peer-peer network,
or one may implement a WAN
(Wide Area Network) utilizing
one or many file-servers to one
or many clients.

As I understand it, the trans-
mission speed is dependent on
your MODEM; so, if you are ina
hurry, modify your 2050 to a
"pure" serial port, and get a
Hayes compatible 1200 or 2400+
Baud modem (and of course,
insist that the other party
have an equally fast modem).

Ao Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Vo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo
Streamwood, April 18, 1992 --
In a moment of collective con-
fusion, four 2068 users (Abed,
Frank, Steve and Bob) gathered
at Bob's house for a SIG (spe-
cial interest group) meeting.

Again, MAXCOM was demonstrated
for those who did not have an
opportunity to see it in March.
Communication was made with Jay
Shepard in Iowa, but some phone
line problems apparently arose
due to bad weather (heavy rain)
in Iowa.

In March, Bob had linked his
2068 with Abed's 2068 (a com-
munity or two over from where
Bob lives) and the 2068 of Don
Lambert (Auburn, IN). of
course, Bob, Abed, and Don have
LKDOS on their TS2068s.

Steve seemed unimpressed by
MAXCOM, and declares that he is
in the market for a second JLO
interface; particularly, if the
price is right.

Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Vo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Vo Vo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo
Downers Grove, April 25, 1992
--- For whatever reason (the
"good" weather, relief from the
annual IRS ritual sacrifice, et

cetera), eleven people were in
attendance at this meeting. In
addition to the normal
gathering, Bobbie Donaldson
and Leo managed to attend.

John & Bobbie Donaldson brought
a lost treasure they had found
at a local book store:

Blood Libels. Clive Sinclair.
New York: Farrar, Strauss,
Giroux, 1986.

Glancing at the inside of the
book, one also finds "by Clive
Sinclair":

Bibliosexuality (1973)
Hearts of Gold (1979)
Bedbugs (1982)

The Brothers Singer (1983)

Look for these titles in your
local book store, or ask your
local, public librarian.

Because the (Milwaukee) SMUG
group is considering suspension
of its newsletter, the matter
of incorporation within either
the NITE-TIMES NEWS or 2ZXir
QLive Alive! was discussed.

With the understanding that
many editors feel constrained
by time and/or written contri-
butions, it has been suggested
that ZQA! become an umbrella
publication wherein the various
user groups who no longer feel
they can support individual
publication yet would like to
show the rest of the
Timex/Sinclair Community that
they are viable. Recent
incorporation of Andre Baune's
excellent ZX-91 newsletter as
an addendum to ZQA! may be
taken as a possible model of
how this would be implemented.

While this may not be a bad
idea, Al Feng suggested that
user groups who are
experiencing difficulty in
producing a newsletter on a
monthly schedule first explore
the idea of publishing their
current newsletter either as
bi-monthly (as with the NTN) or
even quarterly. This is only a
suggestion, and [more than
likely] does not represent the
views of the CATUG.

Abed further suggested that the
frequency of ZQA! increase from
a quarterly to a monthly publi-
cation to support that end. Bob
thought that would be the death
of both ZQA! and himself!

I managed to give a brief QL
demo, fumbling my way through a
show-and-tell of the excellent
BI-COL program (authored by
Mike Padlipsky and Peter Hale)
for both John and Nazir [those
2068 people have absolutely no
interest in non-2068 matters in
our group].

This was of special interest to
John since he is the editor for
two other newsletters, and has
been using the more traditional
cut-and-paste method. Nazir
recently needed bi-columnar
output, and apparently resorted
to the two-passes through the
printer method.

The main point of the demo was
to explain the undocumented
trick of getting it to work
more easily when creating a
transient "col" file for
subsequent IMPORTation into
Quill or other formatting
program (details follow).

The one, major problem arises
from the fact that there are
probably three or four versions
of the program floating around
out there (CATUG has an early
one; T/SNUG has the version
from the SNUG PDL disk, QUANTA
may have one; and of course,
NESQLUG has one).

Unfortunately, neither Peter
nor Mike saw fit to include a
version number in the REMarks,
so I suggest that anyone having
problems with using the program
try to get a copy of the pro-
gram from the NESQLUG library
disk as this version does not
seem to have problems with the
creation of transient " col"
files.

If you have previously gotten a
copy of the CATUG library disk,
and don't have a copy of the
NESQLUG disk, then send a disk
and return postage [or, one
dollar and no disk (specifying
disk size)] to me and I will

send you a copy of the program
from the NESQLUG disk [better
yet, if you are a QL user, you
might want to consider joining
NESQLUG and tapping’ their
resource of QL PD material].

HAPPY TRAILS, AND COMPUTING,
TO YOU ...

Al Feng, Secretary
Chicago Area Timex Users Group

FROM THE EDITORS DISK

Are you readers out there
getting, like me, needled by
IBM (clone) and Macintosh
owners who believe I too should
switch from my ZX machine to
one of theirs?

One of them visited me recently
and asked why I was "still
using an ANTIQUATED machine?
Can your machine do things as
fast as these newer machines?"

I took him to my TS2068 set-up.
and powered it up, the third
program was on the screen
before the monitors CRT was
bright enough to read. It was
my terminal program. "I can go
for a cup of coffee and return
before your Macintosh is ready
to use!"

I dialed the CATUG BBS. Showed
him the fine screen response of
MTERM2. I logged off and went
into MSCRIPT, the word
processor. Loaded in the
download from MTERM2, made some
changes, saved that, quit and
went into VU-CALC, showed him
the HELP file, loaded in the
T/SNUG treasures report, quit
that and went into VC2TAS.B1,
made a TASWORD file out of the
VU-CALC file, went into TASWORD
and wrote TREASURERS REPORT on
the top, saved it and sent the
document to the printer. While
it was being printed, I went
into VU-FILE, loaded in Gazette
and listed the file, quit
VU-FILE and asked him, while
the printer was still printing
why he felt I should quit using
my TS2068? (Hardly four minutes
had gone by.)

My friend is just one of
gullible victims of companies

with better sales forces than
product. He found that the
APPLE IIc wouldn't do all he
had been sold on and was now
using an IBM clone in the
appliance mode.

Sales has one assignment, to
sell, and not always do they
have the best product on the
market to sell. Have you been
watching PBS lately? They have
been showing the history of
computers as of late in a
series called "The machine that
changes the world." What they
have shown us is (if you really
study what they have stated)
that inferior computers can
displace better machines in the
market place if a companies
sales force is superior in that
market place. IBM and APPLE are
out there because of superior
Sales forces, not superior
product.

Because we can find no one to
fix our ailing DEC machine, our
Motorola MicroComputer Club is
now talking about replacing our
present 1970s model BBS
computer with a modern IBM
clone running a canned software
package. The first thing we
found was that the IBM runs
much slower! Second, it can
only serve two users, our
present machine serves eight!

Why are the better machines not
in the homes of the masses?
Ever hear of IMS? FHL? Eckert?
Doesn't TIMEX make watches and
Remington make shavers? If
these outfits can't out-sell
IBM or Apple in this country,
they will have no market even
with superior product and the
product will disappear.

Really, folks, I am not telling
you what machine is best for
you. I am just saying I hope
you do find yours and when you
do, don't let someone tell you
theirs is better and you should
switch. I have been programming
for 20 years and had MANY
machines under my finger tips.
I found what I like. I'm not
easily swayed.

But if you're a functionally
illiterate appliance operator

with lots of bucks, you'll love

MAC. Mac was invented for
people who wanted results
without having to learn

computers. On the other hand,
if you're a masochistic child
prodigy, you'll love MSDOS and
UNIX type machines and may even
learn to speak fluent C! But if
you have a wife, child, cat or
maybe even empty coal buckets
at home, and therefore have a
real thirst to feel like the
BOSS, (without SYNTAX ERROR
insults,) try telling a ZX
computer what to do. (I'd bet
Rodney Dangerfield would love a
ZX machine.)

And don't tell me to switch,
I've got 16 newsletters to get
out this year!

--==GATOR==--

NEWS ITEMS

Word has reached us that Mel
Nathenson has forwarded the
SNUG Treasury to Paul Holmgren
about a week or so ago. Paul
did incur expenses for which he
was never reimbursed. It is
Pauls intention that the
remainder of these funds will
be forwarded to T/SNUG along
with the names of the
contributors so that these past
members of SNUG can be brought
into the T/SNUG fold. Many
still do not know of T/SNUGs
existence.

While the intent behind SNUG
was good, implementation left
something to be desired,

My recommendation is that Don
Lambert use $600 or so of the
money for a Canon Copier. If
you have any thoughts on the
matter, contact:

B.ob Swoger, or
A.bed Kahale, or
D.on Lambert
[the "B.A.D" Boys of T/SNUG].

Al Feng, Secretary
Chicago Area Timex Users Group

INPUT/OUTPUT

Jay Shepard writes (on BBS):

L.Bl - Is V4.6L3 a test version
of LogiCall? How does it differ
from V4.4A3? The copy I got of
v4.6L3 from Don Lambert was
marked that version on the disc
but had V4.4L3 in your opening
statement of the LISTing. What
gives? Saw no - mention of
anything about any changes in
NIN. [The latest is V4.8 3 This
means that the version is 4.8,
the _ is for the base disk
operating system type, L is for
LarKen, F is for Fast LarKen, O
is for Oliger, Ais for AERCO
and R is for RAMEX. Each type
has to call in a different
FORMAT.B_ program. Finally the
LarKen DOS prom version number
is given, everyone should have
3 by now. Maybe Don is doing
something on his own, beware!)

AUTOSTART installation does not
perform as described in your
instructions - it's probably
this darn AERCO style LKDOS
abortion - when I key A at the
program prompt to start the
RAND 102 NMI save of L.B1l for
AUTOSTART, I get ‘error 430.1',
but if I do a RAND 102:RUN from
BASIC I get the AUTOSTART like
it's supposed to perform but
without the ease you had
intended with your L.Bl line
460. [You will note when you do
that you will use 2 tracks
instead of one. The problem is
not AERCO/LarKen but rather the
Jack Dohany EPROM Switch. It is
slightly incompatible with
LogiCall and other programs
that use the DELETE keyword.
Edit the lines in LogiCall 430
thru 450 changing the '?'s to
DELETE, per Jack's instruction,
in the TS2068 mode and the
program will do what it was
intended to do. There is no
problem in the Spectrum mode.
Don't forget to save it to all
your disks overwriting the old
L.Bl programs. I can never seem
to get Lambert to do that.]

Z-88 - I know your ads work
because I got three leads from
the Z-88 ad. [and let me take
this opportunity to add that
when something has been

transacted, let me know to
remove it from the board. Ed.]
The last was a Nigel with an
800 number who use to be a
dealer and is out of the
business but has stock left and
is sending a list with reduced
prices. In looking for help and
aids in running this jewel of a
laptop I started with Mike Fink
of Domino Cubes who had more
trade paper ads than anyone
including Sharps.

Unfortunately, I had ordered a
manual he had written on the
promise of the glowing review
that E. P. Wannum (he of John

Last-Name-Unknown fame) had
written. Well, E. P. not only
doesn't know my name, he

doesn't know a decent manual.

Fink gets $30 for it but it's
no where near the quality of
Barry Carter's SMART modem SW
manual that he only got $12.50
for in it's hey day. [Ouch!
There ought to ba a way to see
it first, hummm... Ed.]

MSDOS/MSCRIPT - thought I'd try
to read the PC discs Dave sent
with this. HA! AERCO/LARKEN
bites me again. I can't read
the HELP file because selection
of that brings up a white no
raster screen with the disc
rolling, can't BREAK it so no
way to modify it to show
through INK & PAPER if that's
the solution. I can read a
track with option 2 on the menu
but have no idea how to use it
without a manual or HELP page
and I have no idea what
QUICKSCAN the files does
because the cursor movement "A,
S, & X" makes no sense. I just
want to cuss. [I don't know
what QUICKSCAN is but I will
upload a working copy of
MSDOS.Bx to fix your problem. -]

I have been pleased to watch my
high school junior daughter
type term papers using the
three different WPs - TASWORD2,
MSCRIPT and Wordmaster
switching between them easily.
TE an air-headed female
teenager can use these machines
then they must be worth the
trouble. [I'd say that if she
does all that then she has more

savvy than a Macintosh owner!]

Thanks so much, Bob, for taking
time to read and try to resolve
my problems and by the way,
what's the toughest question
you've ever had to answer?
TIMEXON Jay [Well, Jay, by a
wide margin, the toughest
question I've ever been
confronted with began, "Do you
take this woman...?"]

GATOR's TWISTED PAIR

rot REMEMBER ropot
We now have a 24 hour BBS and
encourage you to exchange mail
and contribute to the Download
Section. Use it and have fun!

The board has become semi-
private at this time. Please
call Bob Swoger at 708/576-8068
for information as to how to
log on.

Bob Swoger, SYSOP
Chicago Area Timex Users Group

ITEMS FOR SALE THROUGH THE CLUB

It has come to our attention
that some LarKen Users are
using something less than
Version 3 firmware. The club
will supply updated EPROMs,
SYSTEM DISKS, and MANUALS for
just $5 which includes shipping
and handling, free if ordered
with LogiCall or Spectrum ROM.

If you are a LarKen LK-DOS
owner and would like a SPECTRUM
V2 kit for your system we will
supply an EPROM, socket and
74HCT32 for $12 which includes
shipping and handling. The
install instructions are in
your LarKen manual. We shall
not be responsible for your
install job. AERCO owners need
only the SPECTRUM EPROM for $10
$10 is forwarded to LarKen.

If you have a mismatch between
you LarKen DOS EPROM and your
Western Digital Controller
chip, we will send you the
correct one for free on behalf
of our friends Rod Gowen of RMG
and Larry Kenny of LarKen. You
should be using L3 EPROMs with
WD1770 controller chips or L3F

EPROMs with WD1772 controller
chips. Check it out! Call in
requests to -Bob Swoger at
W708-576-8068 H708-837-7957

SPECIAL DEALS AND BUYS

NAP Ware (Nazir A. Pashtoon's
new endeavor) announces the
availability of all Timex or QL
PAL (Programmable Array Logic)
chips. If interested, call him
evenings on 708-439-1679.

LogiCall Integrated Software
Ensemble easy operating system
for LKDOS in both TS2068 and
Spectrum modes includes
LogiCall 4.8 TASWORD TWO v2.7,
VU-CALC V1.3, VJU-FILE and
MTERM2 Drivers modified for

LogiCall, DISKS.B1 TAPES.B1
steprt.Bl HEADER. BT (tape
header reader by Nazir

Pashtoon) FORMAT.B_ MOVE.BL and
more all on 2 SSDD disks for
$5. You must specify your
LK-DOS EPROM version. If you
already have a copy you are
encouraged to distribute copies
to other lLarKen LK-DOS' users
for as you see by the price we
are not in the business of
making money on it, just making
LarKen's LK-DOS even better!

So you like to fly? The 747
Flight Simulator for Spectrum
by Derek Ashton of DACC sold
over 40K copies in EUROPE.
Requires Spectrum Emulator. At
this time supplied on LarKen
SSDD disk only for $10 which
goes to Derek Ashton, now
working at MOTOROLA with Bob
Swoger. Call in requests to Bob
at W708-576-8068 H708-837-7957

Want to try MS-DOS first before
you switch? Try QLuMSi DOS, the
MS-DOS SIMULATOR on your QL
first.

QLuMSi (disk/specify) ..... $15

Try Al's Side-Kick on your QL.
It is an Auxiliary Operating
System (AOS) like LogiCall and
can make your life on the QL a
lot easier [you may never lust
for MS-DOS again!]

QLUSTer (disk/specify) ..... $10
CALL: Al Feng H(708) 971-0495

ARTICLES

VC2TAS.B1
by
Bob Swoger

In our last newsletter we
published a LarKen/LogiCall
utility that was requested by
Marie Kendoll of Point Roberts,
Washington to allow her to
print VU-CALC files on her
large printer. This time we
have answered the request again
with a little refinement,
namely, creating a TASWORD
document from a VU-CALC file.
This allows editing of the
VU-CALC print-out to add notes
or heading or what ever before
printing to a large printer.

The program asks you for the
name of the VU-CALC file to
load and then which column to
print as the left-most column.
You are permitted to enter
columns 1 through 42 only. It
then creates a TASWORD 2
document of nine columns and 50
rows from the VU-CALC document.

The new TASWORD 2 document will
have the same name as the
VU-CALC document but will end
in .CT instead of .Cv . The
VU-CALC document is left
untouched.

10 REM --== VC2TAS.B1 ==--
WRITTEN BY ROBERT E. SWOGER
1992 v1.2

20 REM Converts VU-CALC files
to TASWORD 2 files.

30 CLEAR 33279: LET h=CODE "q"
: POKE 23658,0: POKE 23728,h

40 CLS : RANDOMIZE USR h: CAT
" l Cv" F

50 PRINT '"This program create
s a 9 column50 row Tasword 2 fi
le from a VU-CALC file that can
be printed ona large printer. Y
ou may selectthe left-most colum
n. You maySave, Quit or selec
t drives 0-4."

60 INPUT "Name of file to conv
ert? "; LINE g$

70 IF g$>="0" AND g$<="4" THEN
RANDOMIZE USR h: GO TO VAL gS:
GO TO 40

80 IF g$="s" OR gS="S" THEN GO
TO 9990

90 IF g$="q" OR gS="Q" THEN GO

TO 9998

100 RANDOMIZE USR h: LOAD g$+".
Cv"CODE

110 IF PEEK 23728<>h THEN PAUSE
h: GO TO 30

120 REM R=VU-CALCs 50 ROWS

130 REM C=VU-CALCs 9 clmn/pg

140 REM I=Tasword doc start

150 REM J=VU-CALC doc start

160 REM S=First column to print
170 REM O=Offset to begin J

180 LET R=50

190 LET C=9

200 LET I=33280

210 LET J=34573

220 REM Determine start column
230 INPUT "Start with what colu
mn? ";S

240 IF S<1 OR S>42 THEN GO TO 2
30

250 LET O=(S-1)*7

260 LET J=J+0

270 REM MOVE VU-CALC TO TASWORD

280 PRINT #0;TAB 12; FLASH 1;"W
ORKING";

290 FOR K=1 TOR

300 FOR L=0 TO (7*C)

310 POKE (I+L),PEEK (J+L)

320 NEXT L

330 LET I=1I+64

340 LET J=J+350

350 NEXT K

360 RANDOMIZE USR h: SAVE gst";
CT"CODE 33280, ((7*C)+1)*R

370 GO TO 9998

9992 RANDOMIZE USR h: SAVE "VC2T
AS.B1" LINE 30

9998 CLEAR 6E4: RANDOMIZE USR 10
Q: LOAD "L.B1"

QL vs. TS-2068
by Al Feng

1984. For decades, the date
represented the title of George
Orwell's book forecasting a
dreary future. APPLE COMPUTER,
INC. exploited Orwell's vision
of the "future" when they
introduced the "revolutionary"
128K MACINTOSH computer. And,
1984 was the year that I bought
my TS2068.

There are various reasons for
using and/or owning a computer:
applications, games, etc.

In 1984, I wasn't sure if it
was time to "replace" my IBM
SELECTRIC II with a word
processor, but I figured it was
time that I became computer
literate. The TS-2068 had a
price I couldn't refuse; and, I

thought that this would be good
enough for getting my toes wet.

Well, if I had known that it
would take the better part of
eight months to accumulate all
the components necessary for
word processing [I was living
in a small town in northern New
Mexico at the time] I might
have just gone ahead and bought
an IBM PC! Good thing I wasn't
in a real hurry to bang-away at
a computer keyboard.

Despite the terrible "chiclet"
keyboard is on the TS-2068, it
didn't take me long to figure
out that using TASWORD TWO was
superior to my SELECTRIC for
EDITing text, until I found
that there was, essentially, a
ten page limit (300 lines) to a
document file.

What if a section (group of
paragraphs) needed to be
located on 'page 18' instead of
"page 32'? A lot of "fiddling"
would have to be done to move
the first block of text; and
then, adjust the remainder of
the text.

TASWORD was “okay" for drafts;
but, it wasn't time to retire
the SELECTRIC.

A copy of VU-CALC didn't prove
to me that spreadsheet programs
were superior to programmable
calculators. I found VU-CALC
to be so tedious that it
made my HP-67 calculator seem
easy to use!

Despite the realized software
limitations, I found the 2068
to be an adequate tool -- good
enough to consider acquiring a
disk interface, et al, to
overcome the long and tedious
SAVES and LOADs of programs and
data. Fortunately (for me),
the QL became available at the
critical moment in time.

Well, it didn't take a UNIVAC
to figure out that $400 for
dual disk drives plus either a
Millenia-K or AERCO interface
was more expensive than $300
for a QL which came with dual
100K "“microdrives" [of course,
I had no idea what THEY were],

word processor, spreadsheet,
database, and graphics package
bundled with the computer.

Still, I weighed the pluses and
minuses for some time of

switching computers. After
all, I "knew" how to use
TASWORD.

TIME PASSES. I overcame the

dread of learning the quirks of
a new computer and how to use
its software and I eventually
ordered my first QL ..

The QL isn't a perfect compu-
ter. I hated the keyboard as
soon as I put my fingers on it.
On top of that, my copy of
QUILL was corrupted (i.e,
would not LOAD). A two week
delay.

In the meantime, I was "forced"
to explore the ABACUS spread
sheet program. wow. What a
revelation! It was so much
easier to use ‘than either
VU-CALC or my HP-67 that I
probably would have been happy
if this had been the only soft-
ware program provided with the
computer <.> that: is, if I
hadn't bought it for its word
processor program.

When my replacement copy of
QUILL finally arrived, I was
already aware of the fact that
EDITing was performed with

"different" key combinations
(Why couldn't Psion have used
the "same" combinations as

TASWORD TWO had used?). QUILL
(v2.1) is far from perfect, and
I gather that it might have
taken me three minutes to fami-
liarize and become comfortable
with the key combinations
needed for EDITing after I had
LOADed the program.

New key-caps, and I was off and
running. Then, 20+ pages into
a re-typing a document into a
Quill_doc file and the program
crashes! Bummer.

QUILL RULE 1: Don't scroll up
through the text.

Despite some false starts, I
was able to generate and save a

document of about 75 pages
using the standard microdrive
cartridges on my unexpanded QL.
Iwas "happy" with QL. The
non-GAME applications were
clearly superior to anything I
had used on the 2068.

MORE TIME PASSES. It seems
that we, as a community, we are
now in some disarray; and, the
number of users is diminishing
for various reasons. I was
amazed when I found that a
factionalism had developed
(existed) in the community;
but, sometimes, I'm not looking
at the wall on which the hand-
writing can be found. The
SHARING of ideas and experience
is what makes a community
strong.

It would seem that 2068-users
apparently have a (Z-80) chip
on their shoulder (so to speak)
with regard to the existence of

the QL. Some seem to feel that
the QL is the (in)direct reason
for the demise of Sinclair

Research Ltd ...

While these same die-hard 2068
people seem to embrace their
affiliation to the SINCLAIR

SPECTRUM via add-on ROMs, they
ignore the fact that their
beloved TS-2068 is probably as
much an affront to the "real"
SPECTRUM user as the QL is to
the 2068 die-hard [I've NEVER
heard of any SPECTRUM owner
inserting a 2068 ROM into his
SPECTRUM! ].

THE BIG IF. If Uncle Clive had
just stayed-the-course, stuck
to what (t)he(y) knew If he
just had NOT ventured off to
un-charted territory with a
"new" chip, he probably would
not have been so bold as to try
and build an electric car!
Pandora's Box, indeed.

Some of these exclusionists
will describe the many wonder-
ful games they have for their
2068 and lament that "If they
had only had a SPECTRUM/2068

emulator for the QL, I would
have bought one five years
ago!" Right.

Some 2068 users like to point

10

to the Z-88 as "proof" that the
Z-80 is a viable chip. But, if
they think that there is any-
thing similar between the
SPECTRUM/2068 and the 2-88
other than the Z-80 processor,
then they should take another
look.

Regardless of copyrights and
patents, Uncle Clive would have
abandoned the SPECTRUM-based
operating system due to limita-
tions. More important than a
worrying about the never-to-be
SPECTRUM emulator for the QL,
someone should be working on a
Z-88 emulator for 2068!

The QL isn't perfect. I use
TurboQuill+ rather than "plain"
QUILL; and whenever possible, I
have replaced the other Psion
programs with later versions.
I've added memory and disk
drives; my QL's black-brick has
been replaced with a "real"
power supply; and, the JSU ROM
has been replaced with the
MINERVA ROM (v1.66) upgrade.
The OL could still use a
better keyboard; and, the
ABC-designed interface will
hopefully be available someday

from one of our domestic
vendors.

The QL may never be perfect.
For me, though, the QL has
fewer hardware and software
failings than the 2068. If one

doesn't find the 2068 hardware
or software limiting, then the
2068 is certainly an adequate
computer. If playing GAMES is
an important function of the
computer, the 2068 (SPECTRUM)
is indeed a better machine
than a QL. No doubt about it.
[There, Bob, are you happy?!?
I've said some "nice" things
about the 2068. ]

TIME PASSES

SSSA AANA

To put an AD in the Computer
related section of the BBS, put
a file in your account with the
filename.filetype: COMPUTER.ADS
! ! ! Our ADS are free ! ! ! !

WANTED 920303
SSSSSEESESEEEEEEEEEEEESEEEEESESS
% SERIAL TO PARALLEL PRINTER %
% CABLE (QL?) USED %
% %
% JOHN J. SHEPARD, III %
% 281- 130th. ST. %
% OGDEN, IA 50212 %
% (515) 846-6378 %
% HAVE ANS. MACHINE %
% %
SESSSESESEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES
FOR SALE: ON 920102

CEEEEEEEEETEEEEEEEEEEEEESEEEEEESS
TS2068 WITH:
SPECTRUM ROM SWITCH
MECHANICAL KEYBOARD
RESET SWITCH
SPEAKER ON/OFF SWITCH
AMPEX COMPOSITE COLOR Monitor
JLO FDD System with:
780K Disk Drive cased with:
power supply
Centronic Printer Interface
TS2040 Printer
Wico Trackball
TS2050 modems (4)
EPROM cards one with Mterm II
Joysticks (2)
Timex and Spectrum commercial
programs 300+
Disk Drive DSDD 5.25 flaky
Disk Drive DSQD 3.5 flaky
Gary Lessenberry
12 Alleghany Road
Havelock, NC 28532
919-444-3895

SLL Q

SPEEDSCREEN ROM (w/ RAM code on
1 mdv)
NUCLEON (2 mdv)
INTEGRATED ACCOUNTS

Z Lg

U ole

2 z Z Z S o o D g

Oo
ae

2

(H

Trump Card or

expansion and/or
face for the QL.

D. G. Smith, R.415 Stone
Johnstown, PA 15906.

disk inter-

St.,

11

FOR SALE: ON 911025
SESEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESS
FOR SALE: TIMEX 2068, excellent

comdition, $65.00. Oliger disk
interface, controler and
expansion board with manual,
$11.00. Both for $165.00.

D. G. Smith, R.415 Stone St.,
Johnstown, PA 15906.

FOR SALE ON 911025
ESESEEEEEEEEESEEEEEESEEEEEEEEEES
I have a Sinclair 2X81 with
64K Memotech RAM, enhanced

keyboard and 300 baud Byte-Back
modem. I also have a TS2068
with modem, printer, and
Spectrum cartridge, along with

a dozen old programs from
Quicksilva and the like, for
both machines. Both are in
working order and excellent

condition. Make an offer on the
whole kit and kaboodle.

Peter Paglia, 8802 Partridge
Run, Chapel Hill NC 27516

FOR SALE: ON 911015
EEBLESESSSSEEEEEEESEEESESEESSSI
QL Complete System
Gold Card for the QL $500
Call Frank Davis H317-473-8031

eee ee

FOR SALE: ON 911015
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES SEES
For the AMIGA 500:

Plattimum Scribble......... $40
Deluxe ‘Paints ccues dace se eae $25

Walt Armstrong H407-433-8822

FOR SALE: ON 911010
EESEEEESEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES
CoCo 1 W/64K AND PRO KYBRD +620
J&M Controller ............. $65
Dual TEAC Disk Drives ...... $80
JOY SELCK Se o inaa ene u are es $10

The whole package with software
and Manuals? «sex ewnsae vers $125
CALL TONY SOKOL H708-428-4058

FOR SALE: ON 910912
SECLLEEEEEEESESBEEEELELELFFZBBF
4 - 256K 80 nS SIMMS IBM TYPE

1 MEGABYTE TOTAL
$15/ea or $50 for all 4
Call MIKE WARNS
W708-982-2107 H708-627-9561

ON 910426
CM-8 COLOR MONITOR W/PLATFORM

SMITH CORONA TP-1 PRINTER
JOYSTICK AND 1 DOZ BLANK DISKS

a a a aa a ae aaa a id aa aa

SOFTWARE INCLUDES DESK MATE
HOME PUBLISHER $400 OR BEST
312-337-3624

FOR SALE: ON 900819
LEEEEEEEEEEEEEESEESEEEEEEEEEEESS
IBM PC XT compatable computer.
Wugo, made in Taiwan.
Completely 100% IBM compatable.
640K RAM, 8 Slot Motherboard,
large keyboard, 2 half Height

floppy drives, one half height i
20 Meg hard drive,
Multi-function card w/serial
port and clock. Game card and 3

joystick. Mouse systems mouse,
1200 baud modem, RGB Color

Monitor, Epsom MX80 w/Graftrax tt )
serial and parallel printer HH
| (has Hanzon card.for Macintosh tH *tt*
| compatibility too). Tons of ## ttt # Pet
applications, documentation and tt HEHH I it
games. Other extras. Whole ttt HEEE aH
thing $950. Call Ray Dubiel +EH #EHH +EH
W708-576-5862 or H708-991-1987 ##H HHHH ###
HHHH #HHH xHEEX
| FOR SALE: ON 900819 Hitt ! ttt *###*
| EEEEEEEEEELELEEEEEELELALESLEL SS EHRE ! #ttt HEERE
Apple II GS w/3 disk drives, HEEE tt ttt ttt tt
color monitor, mouse, joystick tH HEEE HEE HEHEH HXHHEHH
& many extras. ...best or $1200 Ht ttt HEE HERHEH HHH HREH
708-740-0940 after 5 PM HE PEHE HEE HHHHHHE HH FHHHHHHH
HHHHHHE HHH FHHRHHHHHE FHH HEH HH
FOR SALE: ON 900819 HHEHHHHERHRTHHRHREHEH EH HHH HHH ES
| BELELEEEEELEEELLLLL LISI 9 22S EES THT TTT A TEE RTE EHH HHH YEE EHR EEE
Computer table and hutch. Exc. CHICAGO AREA TIMEX USERS GROUP

CONGLELON ansieae e atone wees $50
708-913-5439

I MEMORY OF

RUTH HEIDI ARMSTRONG
BY
HER LOVING SON
BOB SWOGER

12